How To Make A Homemade Fly Trap For House Flies, Fruit Flies, And More

We’ll help you build a homemade fly trap that’s safer and more effective than many store-bought solutions. Flies are one of the most common pests around the globe, but with a little knowledge you can keep those annoying bugs out of your home. The house fly and fruit fly are two of the most common bugs you’ll find circling around the kitchen. These homemade traps are great for indoor and outdoor use

What You’ll Need

What makes a good homemade fly trap? First, you’ll need some sort of bait to attract the flies. According to the pest control experts at Orkin, different flies are attracted to different foods. The common housefly loves to feed on decaying organic matter like feces and rotting meat. Fruit flies prefer something sweeter like fruit, soda, and even some alcohol. To make your trap more effective, you’ll need to eliminate any open sources of food from your home. Either the trap will be the only option for your hungry pests or they’ll go somewhere else for food.

Next you’ll need something to actually trap the flies. The options vary widely, but they all have two things in common: an easy entrance and a difficult exit.

Our Favorite Homemade Fly Traps

Fruit Fly Paper Trap

What you’ll need:

Yellow post-it notes

Vaseline

If you love plants, you’ll love this great trick to stop those little flies invading your indoor garden. David Domoney shares what may be the easiest homemade fly trap we’ve ever seen. All you need is some yellow sticky notes and petroleum jelly. Just smear the Vaseline on the notes and stick them on the walls and windows near your pants. Truly, it couldn’t be any easier. Just make sure you use yellow notes, the bright color attracts most flies. That’s why so many commercial fly papers, like those found at Home Depot, come with a yellow or orange backing.

Pros:

Simple to build

Cheap material

Cons:

Only works on smaller flies

Sticky notes don’t stick to all surfaces

Natural Vinegar Fruit Fly Trap

You don’t need any special chemicals for a good fruit fly trap. You’ve probably already got everything you need in your kitchen already.

What you’ll need:

Mason Jar

Apple cider vinegar

Liquid dish soap

Fill a jar or class with a few inches of apple cider vinegar. Slowly pour 1 teaspoon of liquid dish soap onto the vinegar. Be careful not to make any bubbles! The soap helps break the surface tension of the vinegar. When the flies land on the surface they’re pulled inside and drown.

Set the vinegar trap out in your kitchen and wait. You should see some fruit flies trapped inside the following morning.Pros:

Easy to build

Uses common kitchen supplies

Cons:

Can be messy if spilled

Needs to be replaced daily

Mason Jar Fly Trap

What you’ll need:

Mason Jar

Honey or Syrup

Hot dogs

Wide gauge nail

This homemade fly trap is as simple to build as it is effective to use. Simply poke a few holes in the lid of a mason jar using a wide-gauge nail about 1/4″ in diameter. Fill the jar about half way with your honey or syrup and then drop in a few chunks of raw hot dog. Place the jar in your fly-infested area and wait.

Pros:

Cheap materials

Easy to assemble

Little to no odor

Won’t grow maggots

Cons:

Messy to clean

Easily broken if dropped

May attract other animals if used outdoors

Reclaimed Plastic Bottle Trap

What you’ll need:

Plastic bottle

Scissors

Duct tape

Sugar

Water

This awesome homemade fly trap idea comes from the DIY archives of Build.com. In the video below, Erin shares a classic trick for keeping flies out of your kitchen. Simply cut the top few inches from the top of your water bottle (where the tapered edge meets the flat wall). Then invert the top into the bottle so it looks like a funnel and tape it in place. Next you’ll need to mix equal parts sugar and water and heat them on the stove until the sugar is completely dissolved. Finally, pour the solution into the bottle until there’s about 1″ of space between the top of the bottle and the liquid’s surface. As a result, flies and other insects will be attracted to the sticky treat inside, but won’t be able to escape the bottle’s confusing trap.

Pros:

Cheap materials

Easy to build

Recycles trash into something useful

Cons:

Messy if knocked over

May attract honeybees

Alternative Materials:

Use a larger bottle for a bigger trap

Try molasses or apple cider vinegar instead of simple syrup

Glue the top in place instead of using duct tape

Natural Venus Flytrap

While this isn’t technically a homemade fly trap, it is a natural alternative. In addition to stopping flies, this trap adds some color to your home. The Venus Flytrap, aka Dionaea muscipula, is one of the few plants that actually catches and consumes prey for nourishment. Due to it’s need for a relatively humid environment the Venus Flytrap can be found throughout the southeast United States. Its “mouth” is covered in tiny hairs. When a bug touches one of these follicles, the trap prepares to shut. Furthermore, if a second hair it touched in the next 10-20 seconds, the mouth closes and digestion begins.

These plants can be purchased from most garden centers at stores like Wal-Mart for less than $20.

Pros:

Doesn’t require bait or clean-up

More aesthetically pleasing than traditional traps

Cons:

Must be watered regularly

May catch other insects and arachnids in addition to flies

If you need help dealing with flies, pests, or other creep crawlies, try some of these homemade remedies: